Hello! I feel like it's been a seriously hot minute since I've given you any updates on my life. As I was progressing through M1 year, I realized that my monthly recaps weren't as doable. For one, I don't always take pictures when I'm out with friends, because it's my down time and my main focus is just connecting with the people around me. I was also getting busier and my outings weren't frequent enough to have content for a monthly recap. So, I figure that going forward, I'll try to check-in every so often. That way you can see what is going on in my life and get updated on my progression through medical school.
Summer Projects
Unfortunately, my summer break is creeping to an end and I feel that it has felt just that much faster because I've been very busy. If you read my post about how to to spend your summer after M1 year, you'll know that trying to find things to build your skills for residency applications over the summer is a big one with medical students. I'll admit, Spring semester I was seriously stressing about what I was going to do. Although there was nothing wrong with taking it easy over the summer, I felt like I just needed to do something. I had applied to tutor for the SPP program (The Summer Prematriculation Program my medical school offers). I unfortunately didn't get it, but then I got asked to be the program assistant, and that was way better than what I had originally wanted.
I spent the seven weeks of the SPP program helping with the background logistics of what needed to keep the program running smoothly. I reserved rooms for the tutors to have sessions, made sure the participants were coming to class, helped in setting up for testing, created surveys for feedback, organized payrolll for the tutors, helped handle mishaps and did pretty much everything you can think of when it comes to running a program. I practically lived at school for the duration of the program, but my dedication paid off when the program director told me how thankful she was for everything that I had done and that all my work helped the program run without a hitch. I had a great time doing what I was doing and it was so crazy to be on the other end of the program that I had participated in last summer. It was a great leadership experience and I am more than prepared for every "Tell us about a time.." interview question. But at the end, I was so ready to get back to having my freedom.
Thankfully, that is true for the most part, but I was asked to take on another summer program right after SPP ended. But, this one was more laid back and a bit more fun. The emergency medicine department at my school runs a summer program for high school students that focuses on getting the students exposed to the medical field early on in hopes that in the future they'll be able to go into healthcare careers. In the program, we review some of the systems of the body and do activities where they can practice their clinical skills. A few of such skills were a CPR certification course and a suturing class. Both of which were really great hands on experience for me and really fun to participate in. I also helped lead some of the anatomy sessions which was really fun and showed me just how much I really have learned in the past year of school. The program wraps up this week. And after that, I will be free until M2 year starts in a couple weeks.
Apart from helping out with programs, I also volunteered at a couple health fairs. I haven't really discussed the things that I am involved with at school, but I am one of the Community Health Committee Co-Chairs for our Latino Medical Student Association Club. Part of what we do during the year is to host health fairs where members of the community can come and get free health screenings (Such as blood glucose, BMI, blood pressure, and cholesterol). Another organization contacted our committee to see if we could help out with some of their fairs, so that's how I got involved. Volunteering at these health fairs allows me to put my skills into practice and it helps to make the whole becoming a doctor thing feel a bit more real.
Apart from helping out with programs, I also volunteered at a couple health fairs. I haven't really discussed the things that I am involved with at school, but I am one of the Community Health Committee Co-Chairs for our Latino Medical Student Association Club. Part of what we do during the year is to host health fairs where members of the community can come and get free health screenings (Such as blood glucose, BMI, blood pressure, and cholesterol). Another organization contacted our committee to see if we could help out with some of their fairs, so that's how I got involved. Volunteering at these health fairs allows me to put my skills into practice and it helps to make the whole becoming a doctor thing feel a bit more real.
Life
If I could only tell you all the personal growth that has happened this summer, you'd seriously be amazed. But, unfortunately, a lot of this has to do with my private life, so I don't want to post it for the world to see. Just know that I've had some life lessons that are setting the stage for how I want to proceed with my life and I'm very content at the moment.
I really have been trying to take advantage of all the free time that I currently have and spending time with the people that I don't get to see as much when school gets hectic. I've been making trips down to the suburbs to see my family. And when I'm in the city, I try to spend plenty of time with my chicago squad. We have had some pretty great outings and we've also been trying to try out some new experiences (Such as kayaking on the Chicago River!). Otherwise, I've just been trying to practice self-care and enjoying what the summer has to offer.
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So, although M2 year is right around the corner, I feel like I've enjoyed the summer to the point where I feel recuperated enough to jump right back into the ring and face another year of medical school. This year, we have to take our first board exam (USMLE Step One), so the stress is going to be pretty high come second semester when we enter our studying time. But, I am doing my best to mentally prepare myself and getting ready to take the year on at full force.
Blog
If you haven't already noticed, my blog has gotten a completely new look. I am really loving the simplicity of it and it has been inspiring me to create new content. I'm still playing around with some of the features (like the little tabs at the top), but I'm hoping that it'll make the blog easier to navigate and help people find resources. For me, this blog is mainly my creative outlet. But, if anyone benefits from the content that I put up, I am very thrilled. Currently, I know that it has a very medical focus because that is what my life revolves around, but I'm hoping to start posting about other areas of my life as well. Apart from the blog, I'm hoping to share more of my day-to-day stuff on Instagram. So, if you are interested in seeing what I do, go follow me on there.
I hope you enjoyed catching up with me. I'll be talking to you soon!
- Genesis
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